


Familliar Face

by Slythendor



Category: God of War (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Gen, One Shot, atreus shapeshifting, the good stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-08 18:44:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15249651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slythendor/pseuds/Slythendor
Summary: Aterus, testing the limits of his shape shifting abilities, turns himself into a girl. However when she shows Kratos, the man has an unexpected reaction.





	Familliar Face

**Author's Note:**

> I got such a lovely reaction from my last GoW fic that I decided to post some of my other ones. Once again, thanks to everyone on the GoW discord for their support and assistance.  
> In this fic, Atreus has already learned howto shapeshift. Takes place inbetween the end of GoW and Atreus's vision of Thor.

Atreus looked at his blurry reflection in the stream, eyebrows knitted in concentration. He called upon the magic inside of him, and felt the warmth and electricity grow inside of his chest. Magic floated like golden dust around him as he focused.

He hadn't tried to change into a human for a while - animals were easier, with more basic emotions and appearances. He had seen enough squirrels, wolves, and eagles to imagine fur and scales and feathers growing over his skin. But humans were more complicated, with infinite variations. Changing into anything bigger than his current size always took more effort, so Atreus focused on remaining mostly the same, just...a bit different.

A thought occurred to him, and he smiled in satisfaction as he began to direct his magic. He closed his eyes and focused on a number of features: longer hair, narrower shoulders, a higher voice. The magic turned on his body as the changes began to take place. As many times as Atreus shifted, he never entirely got used to the feeling - like both becoming and unbecoming, his core remaining the same as everything else around him warped. He felt the magic stutter as Atreus tried to complete the change, still feeling his way around new territory. He scrunched his eyes together and focused even harder on the transformation. 

The magic finally settled, and Atreus hesitantly opened his eyes. He looked over at the stream, trying to get a clear view of his reflection. He felt a brush of hair against his cheek, and saw shoulder-length brown hair around his shoulders. His shoulder and waist were smaller together, his face more delicate.

Atreus jumped up and let out a whoop, hearing the higher pitch echo among the trees. He'd been trying to complete a shift into a human for months now, and he had finally done it. Albeit, it wasn't a completely new version of himself-herself? - but Atreus was going to take it. If he could learn to change himself into a girl, he could learn to change himself into other people, too. Besides, it might be helpful to be a girl sometimes.

He turned and started running back to his house, excited to show his father. He deftly lept over logs and stones, knowing every step of the woods around his house. When he saw his father chopping wood with the Leviathan axe in the back of their home, he only quickened his pace. "Father!" He cried out, and Kratos turned to look at the call.

Atreus couldn't see the expression on his face until he approached, but when he did, ice flooded his veins. His father's amber eyes were open wide, entire body tense. Atreus looked around quickly for a threat, but saw nothing. He slowed down his pace until he cautiously approached Kratos. "Father?" He asked again, voice a lot softer this time.

"No...." Kratos whispered, eyes locked on Atreus. "Not again...." Kratos’s eyes were locked on Atreus. His hands were even shaking slightly. Atreus’s heart started pounding harder. His father look  _ terrified _ . But that couldn’t be the case. Nothing scared Father. What was going on?

"Father, it's me!" Atreus said, his joy now quickly replaced by fear. "I just shifted to look like a girl!" Quickly he dispelled the magic, wishing away his hard work in a second. Golden dust flew around him as his features rearranged to his own familiar skin. His eyes were still locked on his father, who looked at Atreus as if he were a wild animal. “What’s going on?” Atreus demanded.

In one swift move Kratos sprung back to life, kneeling and grabbing Atreus by the shoulders. Atreus let a small gasp as two strong hands brought him closer to Kratos. The grip was rough. “What did you do?” Kratos asked, his voice harsh and angry.

“I didn’t do anything!” Atreus automatically replied, his father’s anger putting him on the defensive. Irritation of his own started to grow. “I told you, I just shifted to look like a girl!”

“Never do that again!” His father growled, his hands tightening around Atreus’s shoulders. “Do you understand me boy?!”

Hot tears started to spring in Atreus’s eyes, from what emotion he couldn’t exactly tell. It had been ages since his Father had yelled at him like this, and not once since they had returned from the mountain. Atreus thought that the days of being intimidated by his father were over. He quickly twisted out of Kratos’s grip, not wanting the man to see his tears. “I’ve been working on that for  _ ages!” _ Atreus spat out, trying to lace fury in his voice even when tears threatened to overflow. “What’s wrong with you?!”

Kratos stood back up in one smooth movement. His face was now solem and blank, the same way it was right after Mom died. Atreus could never see any emotion when his father was like this. “We will speak no more of this.” Each word was curt and dominating, threatening. Atreus was too angry to care.

“Tell me what’s going on!” Atreus shouted, fist balled and shoulders squared. “If you don’t want me to shift like that, tell me why.” 

Atreus hoped that his father would fall for the ultimatum, but Kratos was having none of it. “I said, boy,” Kratos growled, looming over his son, as he took a step forever, “we will speak no more of this.”

Atreus couldn’t hide the shiver that ran down his spine as Kratos’s hazel eyes locked onto Atreus, pinning the boy in place. With Kratos’s sheer size looming above him, Atreus took a step back, unable to stand his ground. Anger fled, only to be replaced by hurt. 

When Atreus didn’t respond right away, Kratos turned back around, clearly done with the conversation. Atreus waited for him to take several steps before he spoke. “You said you had told me the truth.” He spat out, hating himself for how his voice shook. “I guess even that was a lie.”

Kratos turned back around, but quick as a flash Atreus shifted into a hawk, magic spinning around him as his size and skin collapsed into feathers. Kratos’s eyes widened and he rushed towards Atreus, but with a quick flap of his wings Atreus was already high in the air, far away. 

“ _ Atreus!” _ Kratos roared as the bird took off into the woods, quickly leaving the house behind. Atreus didn’t care. He was going far away from the house. And far away from his father. 

* * *

By the time Atreus stops flying, he was well outside Mother’s protection stave, and he can smell the briny waters of the Lake of Nine. He tilted downwards and launched himself down through the trees, shifting just before he hits the ground. Golden dust unraveled around him and his feet hit the dirt, taking a few running steps before stopping.

He was going to be in trouble. Father had granted him permission to explore inside of the protection stave by himself, but not outside, still nervous about the growing number of Dragur appearing in the woods. Atreus didn’t care. He still felt the edges of anger seeping through his veins, and the hurt and betrayal resting underneath. He just needed to be away from his father, from his emotions that were intense as a flame one second and cool as ice the next. He needed to think. 

He sat down on a moss-covered, rock, resting his hands on his knees, hanging his head. Ever since they returned from the top of the mountain, Father had been different from before. Still quiet, still rough, but a little more willing to smile at Atreus's jokes, or look on him with pride when he accomplished a new magic spell. Sometimes, he would gently ruffle Atreus's hair, or rest his hand on Atreus's shoulder. Atreus though his father finally trusted him.

But even after all they had been through, Atreus could still see pits of blackness that he could never breach. There were still places that Atreus could not tread and could not question. And that hurt. It hurt like the way it had when Baldur punched him, like a blow that skipped the outer layers and went straight to the core. It hurt to know that Kratos did not value Atreus's efforts as much as he valued his secrecy.

Tears started again, and this time in private, Atreus let them fall. He felt like a child, crying in the woods, but there was no one around to see or judge. He pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes, and took shaky breaths. 

He stayed there until the sun begin to lower in the sky, and it was harder to see the details of the bark of the trees and the rocks in the ground. Briefly, he considered staying out there all night, making his father worry - but it would be cold, even as an animal, and Kratos's coming rage was not worth Atreus's pettiness. The boy sighed, and prepared himself for the lecture that was surely coming. He willed himself back into a falcon, and went up, up, until he could see the small clearing that was his home.

By the time he landed, the sun had completely set. The only lights he had were the torches around the house, and the glow of the fireplace through the window of the cabin. It was quiet, with only the noises of rustling of leaves and the cracking of logs to break the quiet. Atreus approached the door of the cabin, took a deep breath and entered.

Kratos was sitting on his bed, features dimly lit by the fire. The Leviathan Axe was in its spot hung on the wall, along with Father's blades. He did not look up when Atreus entered, gaze focused on his hands. He slowly ran one over the other, as if deep in thought.

Atreus waited for a moment for this father to speak, and when nothing came, petulance rose. "Go on, yell at me," he snapped. "I know you want to." He waited another moment, but Kratos did nothing, not even looking at Atreus. The boy's irritation rose. "I know, I was so stupid and irresponsible to fly off," he continued, "and I'm going to be grounded until the end of Fimbulwinter, and you thought I knew better than this. Go ahead."

But Kratos still said nothing. Finally he breathed out a long, heavy sigh, finally meeting Atreus's eyes with his own. "You are right to be upset."

Atreus opened his mouth to shoot back another snappy retort, then closed it as his father's words hit him. He didn't sound angry or even disappointed, just tired. "I...am?" he asked.

"I said I told you the truth." Kratos responded. "But I did not tell all of it."

Atreus stood there awkwardly, feeling as if he had no idea what was going on. Was his father actually apologizing? Atreus supposed it was better than being yelled at, but this territory was for more unfamiliar, and he didn't know the terrain at all. Kratos motioned towards Atreus's bed. "Sit."

Atreus slowly walked over and sat down on the bed, watching his father carefully. He pulled his knees up to cross his legs, and waited. Kratos seemed lost in thought, slowly running one hand over another. He didn't look Atreus in the eye. After what seemed like ages, he spoke again. "When I was in Sparta...I had a family."

Atreus frowned, not understanding. Was Kratos talking about his father? Atreus knew little of him, other than the fact that Kratos killed him, but from the vision he remembered in Helhiem the figure - was his name Zeus? - was harsh, imposing, cruel. Father probably had a good reason for killing him. However, his train of thought was derailed by Kratos's next words: "A wife. And a daughter."

Shock hit Atreus, and he felt himself instinctually draw in a breath. He was married? Before mother? To who? And - this meant that Atreus had a sister. A million questions sprung up in Atreus's mind, so many that he hardly knew where to start. Father had never given any indication of an other family. What were they like? Where were they? What-

"What happened to them?" Atreus asked, finally voicing his thoughts out loud. Kratos's hand moved up to his forearm, and he gripped it tightly.

"They died."

His words were quiet yet heavy, enough that Atreus felt a pang in his stomach he couldn't place or understand. He briefly wanted to ask how, but the expression on his Father's face made him hesitate. Maybe this wasn't something he wanted to know. Not now.

He moved on to the second most prominent question he had. "Why are you telling me this now?" Atreus asked softly. Kratos released his grip on his forearm, and finally raised his head to look at Atreus. 

"When you came home earlier, I did not know you had changed," Kratos said. "For a moment, I did not know it was you. I thought...."

Understanding hit Atreus, and eyes wided. "You thought I was your...daughter," he ventured. Kratos said nothing in reply, but Atreus knew that the silence was confirmation. He thought back through to the confrontation earlier, rerunning the events in his mind. "Why were you so angry though?" He asked. "You didn't even listen to me."

His father's gaze hardened. "There are things I have worked hard to forget, boy." Kratos's voice was low, and solemn, yet soft. "I do not want to be reminded of them."

Atreus swallowed, and nervously clenched his fists. He always thought of his father as invulnerable, and with how strong he was and how fiercely he fought, it was easy to believe. But now Atreus saw something different, something that made him think about his visions of lightning and blood that always woke him with a gasp. Atreus knew that his father would always protect him. But he needed to protect his father as well. 

"I won't do it again," he whispered, and his father nodded, making a low sound of agrement. There wasn't much Atreus could do, the boy knew that. Whatever had happened in Sparta needed to stay buried, and Atreus wasn't ready to unearth it. The best he could do was nothing at all.

Silence took over in the small cabin. Father seemed lost in thought again, something indecipherable behind his eyes. Atreus lowered his head, feeling as if something had been broken, and he had been the one to shatter it. 

"Boy. Have you been working on your shifts?"

Atreus jumped a little bit at the question. Kratos had stood up, his face blank and unreadable as always. Whatever what in his eyes had disappeared. The atmosphere started to feel normal again. 

"Actually..." Atreus pondered. "I've been working on a new one. Into a wolf. It's not perfect yet-"

"Show me."

Atreus saw the challenge in his father's eyes, and smiled a bit. His father would never apologize. To him it would be a waste of time. But Atreus knew that Kratos would instead try to be better. To give his son the attention he wanted, when he had driven the child away before.

Atreus jumped up off the bed. "Yes sir," he said, and followed his father as he turned to go outside. As he begin to awaken the magic inside of him, he felt himself relax.

They were going to be alright. 

  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
